Zombie Life

Chapter 4

A day after the incident on the road with the giant, the group had planned a funeral. One held for both Rain and Gacha. Each was given a separate grave to pay respects to the dead.

Everyone was there... even the tigers.
Each group member had already said their goodbyes, some being more emotionally broken than others. Many tears had fallen that day... and the day before.

A week later, things hadn't been the same. With Gacha being gone, Zakariyya had offered himself up to take his place on scouting for a while. Carmilla had turned silent, more than before. She couldn't say anything positive without second-guessing her words.

Atlas and Serenity refused to let Snowball leave the house to hunt anymore, except for when she had to use the bathroom, which they still accompanied her for.

While Serenity spent her time watching Snowball and taking care of the weaponry, Atlas continued hunting with new unlikely animal companions; the two adult tigers from back then. He had named the white Tigress Storm, the orange tiger Tank, and the cub Zolt.

Ianessa spent the rest of her time trying to figure out the sudden changes in zombies recently. Exxe and his kids did their own thing, contributing to the group when they could. Although Exxe has noticeably become more distant since Gacha and Rain's death.

The atmosphere had shifted completely since that day. But things weren't over just yet for them... not by a long shot.

Ianessa and Zakariyya stood over a table that was covered in used notebooks and written-up sticky notes. Every single piece of writing was about knowledge of recent changes from the undead and their corpses.

"What was the last one you said you'd encountered like again?" Ianessa asked. "It was fast, and I mean abnormally fast. Probably faster than U Sain Bolt. The bastard almost got me by surprise after I had just picked up some stuff from the gas station, but a good shot to the leg was all it took." Zakariyya described.

"Damnit.. that's the third one this week," Ianessa stressed. "From what I can see, the zombies are starting to undergo some sort of evolution." Zakariyya implied. "Details, please." Ianessa requested.

"This is only a theory. After taking a sample of blood from one of the undead and gaining the assistance of Carmilla, it's come to my attention that the virus is undergoing an absurd amount of adaptive changes and reactions to the point its properties are starting to bypass those of the first outbreak. These changes result in pragmatic evolution that courses throughout the body, stripping away the biological limits of the human body while simultaneously targeting the most talented areas of the vessel. Granting them more of a... 'supernatural' advantage. Therefore, the longer this virus is allowed to exist, the more stronger and capable it becomes for the undead, maybe beyond. I call it, the ascendancy theory." Zakariyya theorized.

Ianessa was shocked by what she had just heard. On one hand, she was unable to completely piece everything together. On the other hand, she understood exactly what he was saying. Inevitably, zombies were gaining superpowers.

"This is... gonna take a lot more time to prepare against.." Ianessa rubbed her head. Zakariyya nodded at her statement. "Should we tell the others about this?" Zakariyya asked. "Yes, but preferably in the morning. It's already dusk and people are gonna need to sleep." Ianessa vocalized.

"You're right. We can tell the others about this tomorrow." Zakariyya agreed. They both began to clean up the notes and papers off of the table, organizing them into their little folders for Zakariyya to take to Carmilla.

Ianessa was about to leave the basement first until Zakariyya put a hand on her shoulder. "Hey, Ianessa," he called. Ianessa looked back at him with a questioning face. "Don't overwork yourself. If you feel the need to take a break, do it." Zakariyya reassured.

Ianessa grew a heavy heart, not wanting to admit to her bad habit of taking things on alone. She nodded at Zakariyya with a smile, and they continued to exit the basement. Ianessa headed up to the second floor, and Zakariyya walked toward a room on the first floor.

Not long after, Atlas arrived at the house. The adult Tigers weren't allowed inside the house, and it was preferred that way. Luckily, they had established territory in a cave close to the house in case Atlas needed them.

However, they wouldn't go home without their baby. As soon as Atlas opened the door, he saw Illumin getting playfully tackled by Zolt. Amid their playing, Atlas whistled for the cub to come over. Zolt immediately perked his up, and ran to Atlas's side, snuggling his ankle.

Atlas looked down at the cub, kneeling to scratch its neck and chin. But he didn't wanna keep his parents waiting either, they were just outside the door. After Zolt was done nuzzling against his favorite human, he trotted outside to greet his parents and head back to their respective territory.

Atlas watched as the couple took their cub away past the corner of the mansion. With a sigh, he closed the door and took off his brown jacket, revealing a black T. However, he kept the mask. He rested the gun on the hallway corner, expecting Serenity to clean it up later as he walked toward the stairs.

"Did you find anything today?" The boy asked, wishing to make small talk. He had a feeling Atlas wasn't very... right in the head. "No. Not today," he answered quickly. "Goodnight. Be safe." Atlas said before walking up to the second floor.

As he made his way upstairs, he peeked into Serenity's room to see her and Snowball sleeping on the same bed. Snowball still had bandages on her paws and hind leg, but she still slept so soundly. Atlas smiled under his mask and kept walking to his and Ianessa's room.

He opened the door and saw Ianessa sitting on the edge of the bed in a moderate white nightgown, having just gotten out of the shower. Atlas sat on the edge of the bed with her and embraced her into a hug.

"How was hunting?" Ianessa asked him. Atlas sighed as he let himself plop onto the bed with open arms. "I thought about Rain today." Atlas began. "I thought about how he would try hogging the prey again. That greedy little fucker... he always loved beef the most." Atlas reminisced.

"Is it bad... that I feel like I miss him more than Atlas? I've known Gacha's been one of our close friends for years, but babe... This was my dog. My first dog. A part of my family... and now he's gone. You and Serenity know this better than anyone. I just... love animals more than people." Atlas admitted as a tear began to fall under his mask.

Ianessa looked at Atlas with eyes of pain and pity. She laid down right beside him, resting a hand on his chest. "I understand, babe. I understand you." Ianessa comforted. "Remember Gacha's lectures on not fearing death and taking risks? Trust me... he would understand, too." Ianessa assured.

"Yeah... I hope so." Atlas rested a hand on top of hers. "I think today's been stressful... for both of us," Ianessa admitted. "I'm assuming it's leadership problems again?" Atlas looked at her with eyes that twinkled like the stars.

Ianessa fell silent, unable to say anything else that came to mind. Slowly, Atlas took off Ianessa's mask that covered her mouth, revealing her soft lilac-colored lips. "You're too gorgeous to be stressed. Leave that up to me." Atlas joked.

Ianessa got on top of the top of Atlas, unclipping his face mask before throwing it on the bed pillow. Atlas's hazel brown eyes and smooth lips were revealed to her clearly now. "Keep that up... and I might ask for more." Ianessa kisses Atlas for what felt like an hour, when really it was five minutes.

Once they stopped, Ianessa slowly began to unbuckle the top to her gown, revealing her soft, minimally plump chest area. "Let's make each other relax. Okay?" Ianessa said. Atlas grabbed her by the buttocks, specifically near the end gown. "All you had to do was ask." Atlas grinned.